1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a cushioning material and a container also serving for cushioning using the cushioning material as a container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various cushioning devises have been adopted so far such as cushioning devices interposed between articles for preventing the articles from direct contact with each other, or cushioning devices disposed between a container and an article for preventing various kinds of articles contained in the container from being damaged by external impact shocks. The cushioning materials adopted so far include, for example, those of plastic molding products such as formed styrol, cushioning members made of shaped paper products such as corrugated boards, cushioning members utilizing containing forms molded along with the profile of articles, or sheet-like cushioning members such as foamed cushioning sheets or air-sealed cushioning sheets made of synthetic resins.
In any of the cushioning members described above, thick cushioning members have to be formed in order to obtain effective cushioning members but integrally molded thick products are expensive when used as the cushioning members. Further, for obtaining cushioning members of predetermined thickness from relatively inexpensive sheet-like cushioning members, a method has been adopted, for example, of using the sheets by merely stacking them in plurality, or using the stacked sheets by connecting them to each other.
The former has a worry that the stacked sheets are disintegrated by impact shocks and the latter requires adhering the sheets one by one to each other.
This invention intends to provide a thick cushioning member by stacking a plurality of sheet-like cushioning materials as described above to define a cushioning material and covering the same entirely with a sheet-like member into a single cushioning member.
Also, this invention intends to provide a container also serving for cushioning in which the cushioning member formed as described above is used itself as a container, not requiring any container.
Further, this invention uses sheet-like cushioning materials instead of integrally molded products of predetermined thickness to define the cushioning members, and it intends to provide a cushioning member formed by stacking a plurality of sheet-like synthetic resin cushioning materials into a laminate without adhering the cushioning materials one by one to each other such that at once, by the covering, a laminated cushioning member is still obtained comprising cushioning materials connected with each other in a predetermined thickness.
Further, when plate-like products which are relatively thin and sensitive to impact shocks such as substrates for electronic parts are contained and transported, the products may possibly abut against each other to be damaged, such that the products have been contained in a containing device having partition plates formed by considering the size or the like of the products. As a result, a predetermined gap is formed between each of the products in order to prevent contact between each of the products.
In this case, since the substrates for electronic parts are precision products and sensitive to impact shocks, cushioning members have been disposed separately also between the partition plates or in vertical gaps between the products, in addition to the containing member for partitioning the products such that no direct impact is applied to the products.
Further, depending on the products tending to cause damages, they are individually packaged with flexible materials.
As described above, when plate-like products which are relatively thin and sensitive to impact shocks such as substrates for electronic parts are contained and transported, a partitioned containing body is previously formed for containing products, or such products are contained individually. This requires separately preparing a containing body having partitioning plates or individual containing devices, which increases the cost.
Further, since the partitioning function is considered more important for the partitioning plates having a cushioning function by themselves, the partitioning plate has a rigidity to some extent and has no sufficient cushioning function. Furthermore, a member both having the partitioning function and the cushioning function is expensive, which increases the material cost.
This invention intends to provide a sheet-like cushioning member having a partitioning function as a containing member for partitioning and containing products, as well as having a sufficient cushioning function and an extremely reduced cost.
This invention also intends to provide a cushioning member also serving for partitioning which cushioning member is formed by partially collapsing an air layer of a member having a plurality of air layers each comprising a small chamber surrounded with a soft material to form a concave portion, and using the concave portion as a space for containing a relatively thin plate-like product.
Further, according to this invention, when a plurality of sheet-like cushioning materials are stacked into a laminate, unevenness is formed by stacking cushioning materials of different sizes while making the number of sheets different and the concave portion is used as a containing portion for an article. In this case, it is possible to contain an article having more thickness compared with that of the constitution described above.
Further, the sheet-like cushioning members can be connected to each other by covering the periphery of the laminate and the inner wall surface of through holes formed from an upper layer to a lower layer of the laminate with a sheet-like member.
This invention provides a cushioning material and a container also serving for cushioning using, as a container, a cushioning member formed by disposing a plurality of sheet-like cushioning materials between a somewhat thick sheet-like member as a lower layer and a soft sheet-like member as an upper layer, connecting the sheets for the upper and the lower layers at appropriate positions such as circumferential edges to form a cushioning member and, further, forming an article disposing portion for containing an article in the cushioning member to form a container.
Further, this invention provides a cushioning member formed by stacking a plurality of sheet-like cushioning materials into a laminate and fusing the laminate at a portion of the lateral side or at through holes passing through the laminate from an upper layer to a lower layer to form a laminate in which cushioning materials are integrally connected with each other.
This invention further provides a cushioning member formed by collapsing a portion of an air layer of a member in which the air layer is surrounded with a soft material to form a concave portion and using the concave portion as a space for containing a relatively thin plate-like product.
Further, this invention provides a cushioning member formed by stacking cushioning materials of different sizes while making the number of stacked sheets different to form unevenness, using the concave portion as a containing portion of a relatively thick article, forming through holes passing from an upper layer to lower layer in the laminate, and surrounding the periphery of the laminate and the inner wall surface of through holes with a sheet-like member.